Introduction
Most projects undertaken in Trumeter require the compilation of a Project Charter, with the exception of some technology projects outside of the management by the Projects team.
The Charter is key to aligning the business expectations, outlining the idea and defining the scope of work involved, and what desired benefits will be achieved. The Charter forms an agreement and an approval between the project’s teams and the business leaders who fund these projects as they run their course in the organization. It also acts as a tool to obtain the buy-in from key stakeholders inside and outside of the organization, aligning at a high level, the intentions and expectations from all involved.
The Charter provides a foundation for which key decisions can be based on, whether that may be to increase the scope for added value to the project or cancel the project because the original reasons for conception/inception are no longer valid. It is a backbone that defines and shapes the entire course of a project.
If there is no Charter, does the sponsor know a project exists? Would resources be using time and money that has not been approved and could be better utilized elsewhere?
The History
The Project Charter is not a Trumeter derived artifact but originates from the modernization of Project Management considered to start in 1958 when the term Project Manager was first used. Project Management took a leap forward maturing under NASA’s mandate to use and develop project management tools. Tools included the use of Gantt charts first popularized by Henry Gantt about 1910. NASAs work evolved the project management profession as great minds came together as a forum for project managers to share and discuss ideas. The Project Management Institute was formed from the like-minded founders in 1969, who in turn would embed the essence of Project Charters in the PMBOK (Body of Knowledge). Although there is little historical evidence of who first used the term “Project Charter”, we can see the evolution of these elements of project management in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. It wasn’t until 1972 when the UK founded it’s professional organization, the Association for Project Management.
The term Charter used in English to describe executed contracts or deeds. It is traditionally a form of legal document. One of the oldest and recognized Charters of 1215, was the Magna Carta , meaning the Great Charter. The Project Charter may not be written by Lawyers and may not carry any legal weight, but like charters before, provides a stable foundation and baseline to map the next changes in the business. It is also known in other circles and institutions as the Project Statement or Project Definition.
Ownership
This over-arching document to a project is the responsibility of the Project Manager assigned to the Project, and owned by the CEO/Chairman providing the authorization to execute the project. The project being a temporary endeavor with a start and end timeframe to execute a change to the business. Certain elements of the Charter will, during compilation, require the Project Manager to collaborate with the key stakeholders and engineers to capture enough information to help formulate the intended direction and approach the project should take.
Key Elements of the Charter
The Charter template, used in Trumeter, ensures key elements of the project are documented. It is not a document that provides the finite details and requirements of the project, as these will be detailed once approval to proceed has been given. It is a document to capture those key elements that provide an overarching view of the project, to help sell the project internally and prevents the dreaded scope creep by providing an agreed foundation of expected outcomes and rationale. The following sections form the Project Charter:
Project summary & Commercial Proposition
This section in the Charter provides the simplified understanding of what the objective is, who is this intended for ie customer and/or market, key rationale for why it should be approved, when it is likely to start and finish and whether the outcome of the project will mean we hold an inventory of product in terms of cost sitting in the warehouse. These are some of the decisive factors to help the organizations strategic leaders make the right decisions, at the right time, and for the right reasons.
Scope, Timeline and Milestones
This information outlines what the key deliverables are and when they should be expected. This in turn will enable the rest of the business to plan around these, whether it’s a marketing campaign or a follow-on dependent project.
Risk and Uncertainties
There will be a number of known risks or areas of uncertainty specific to the project and its execution. This section in the Charter captures what may go wrong, what areas are ‘fuzzy’ and will need clarifying in the early phases of the project. The risks documented, whether threats or positive opportunities, are only those with a high degree of probability of occurring and/or impact. This section can provide some degree of how these will be managed/mitigated as appropriate.
Assumptions and Constraints
Until the project is underway, there will be a number of assumptions made requiring validation and ratification as the project progresses. The constraints listed could indicate to the audience why certain paths and directions are being taken and provide confidence the project will head in the right direction and take into account potential obstacles.
Roles and Responsibilities
This information captures the expected involvement from key resources, whether throughout the complete lifecycle of the project or specific points in development.
Anticipated Cost
Outlining the expected cost of the project in terms of materials and labor costs, and time, will enable the financial stakeholders to determine if this project has value in proceeding. This forecast of cost may result in highlighting additional risks to be managed. The costs may not be fully known but it is envisaged to consider as much as is known in the present time, and account for a certain degree of variance. Information such as the cost of the Bill of Materials, the volume of products to be sold, and the development costs, will go towards the expected margins and return on the investment to be made. In a Cost-Down project, solely to reduce the costs associated with an existing product, there is a section to lay out the expected savings anticipated and when the project will pay-back on the development costs. All this information and metrics can be used to determine how much of a success or failure the project was.
Next Steps
A few bullet points go towards what the readers of the Charter should expect as the first actions and steps once the Charter is approved.
Summary
The Project Charter provides the foundation with which a Trumeter Project must hold its head up against and be used as a guide to decision making before and during a project. It is key to determining the success of a project. The success may not always be clear cut, if one of the most infamous project failures can be looked upon. The Sydney Opera House was, in terms of cost, at $102M AUD against a $7M AUD budget, taking time of 14 years to complete against a 4 year estimate but ultimately (and luckily) became a global iconic success and did manage to recover the exorbitant costs over the first two years of operation.
